Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Tied Housing

The Lord Bishop of Hereford: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of transiting from tax credits to Universal Credit on people who live in accommodation tied to their work; and whether they undertook any consultation with ministers of religion or other cohorts particularly affected by these proposed changes.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: Universal Credit (UC) was legislated for in 2012. We continue to learn and iterate our approach as we progress the Move to UC activity and remain committed to ensuring that the transition works as smoothly as possible for all individuals. Latest findings of the Move to UC process were published here: Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Universal Credit: Tied Housing

The Lord Bishop of Hereford: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to address thefact that people living in tied accommodation are not eligible to claim Universal Credit if they own more than £16,000 of a property in which they do not live.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: People who own a second property that they do not live in, will have the equity value of that property taken into account as part of their capital when assessing their claim for Universal Credit. If this causes the total capital they hold to exceed £16,000 then they will no longer be eligible for Universal Credit support.

Work and Health Programme

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to undertake an impact assessment of the closure of the Work and Health Programme this autumn and the impact of this on enabling disabled people to enter the job market.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: As part of the government’s Back to Work Plan we have launched and plan to deliver a range of other support which will put in place an offer to a broader range of disabled people, for example, Universal Support will support up to 100,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and people with additional barriers to employment per year, once fully rolled out, helping them to find, enter, and remain in work. The Work and Health Programme (WHP) has supported 300k people since it was introduced in 2017 to the end of November 2023, of whom over 130k have entered employment in this time. More recently WHP Pioneer, which is part of the first phase of Universal Support, aims to support up to 25k people through DWP contracts. The next publication of WHP Statistics on Gov.UK is due at the end of May 2024.

Universal Credit: Disability

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the transfer to Universal Credit of those with a long-term disability which inhibits them from entering the job market.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: DWP continue to learn and iterate our approach as we progress our Move to Universal Credit activity. We remain committed to ensuring that the transition to Universal Credit works as smoothly as possible for all customers, including enhanced customer support for vulnerable customers. Our latest insight publication is available on GOV.UK - Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts.

Child Benefit

The Lord Bishop of Leicester: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byViscount Younger of Leckie on 24 April (HL3765), what plans they have to collect data to evaluate the success of the two-child benefit cap, especially in relation to the statements in the 2015 Impact Assessment which suggest the two-child limit would (1) encourage parents to consider their readiness to support an additional child, (2) help people move into sustained employment, and (3) provide incentives to have fewer children.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: There are no such plans to collect data to evaluate the success of the two-child benefit cap. The Department committed to publishing statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children annually. The latest statistics were published in July 2023 and can be accessed at: Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit claimants: statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, April 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). DWP is committed to supporting families and helping parents into work. This requires a balanced system that provides strong work incentives and support for those who need it, but that also ensures a sense of fairness to the taxpayer and many working families who do not see their incomes rise when they have more children.

Department for Business and Trade

Arts

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the EU regarding barriers to trade and exports faced by the creative industries since Brexit; what steps they are taking to address this; and what plans they have to support UK creative businesses in global markets.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: The creative industries have been identified by the Government as one of five priority growth sectors. As set out in the Creative Industries Sector Vision,by 2030 the Government aims to grow our the creative industries by an extra £50 billion Gross Value Added, with a goal to increase creative exports 55% to £78 billion over this period.The Government is committed to supporting the creative sector to adapt to requirements for working and touring in the EU. For example, 23 out of 27 EU Member States have clarified arrangements or introduced easements to allow visa and work permit free routes for UK touring performers.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Lord Banner: To ask His Majesty's Government what recordthey haveof the annual financial cost of the badger culls in England over the pastfive years, and when a written value for money analysis of that cost was last undertaken.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The cost of undertaking badger culling is paid for by industry. The Government pays for the licensing operation and monitoring, as well as the cost of policing culls. Information on the Government badger control costs for 2022 and previous years is available at GOV.UK. The Government badger control costs for 2023 will be published in due course. The most recent value for money analysis of the badger control policy was published on 28 October 2022. This can be found attached to this answer.Badger control VFM analysis 2022 (pdf, 391.9KB)

Deep Sea Mining: Environment Protection

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish any reports from their newly launched environmental science network focusing on deep-sea mining, DSM Environmental Network.

Lord Benyon: On 19 February, we opened the new UK Deep-Sea Mining (DSM) Environmental Science Network to applications. The aims of the network are to recognise and promote the extensive and world-renowned UK expertise in environmental and natural science related to DSM. The Network will not be responsible for developing policy or providing advice or recommendations to the Government or Ministers. Rather, it will help fill the current evidence gaps on the environmental impact of DSM, coordinate research effectively and strategically, make sure UK research is included in the global environmental evidence base for DSM, and encourage conversations between the Government and the scientific community to raise awareness and coordination between DSM science and policy environmental issues.

Animal Welfare

Lord Trees: To ask His Majesty's Government when they will specify the relevant activities which will be proscribed under legislation to enable compliance with, and enforcement of, the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad. Future decisions on which specific animal activities will fall in scope of the advertising ban will be evidence-based and subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Sufficient, compelling evidence will be required to demonstrate why any specific advertising ban is needed. This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority and we are currently exploring a number of options to ensure progress as soon as is practicable.

Cabinet Office

Civil Servants: Redundancy

Lord Balfe: To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Prime Minister's announcement that 70,000 civil service jobswill be cut to finance extra defence spending,whether thosecivil servants are doing work that is unnecessary; andwhat are the functions that will no longer be carried out.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Prime Minister’s announcement of longer-term reductions in Civil Service numbers is a reiteration of the policy announced by the Chancellor in October 2023. The longer-term reductions will build on the shorter-term headcount cap put in place through to March 2025. The detail of how the return to pre-pandemic numbers will be delivered will form a key part of the next comprehensive spending review.

Home Office

Homelessness: Refugees

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent Refugee Council report Keys to the City 2024: ending refugee homelessness in London and its finding that in the two years to September 2023, there was a 239 per cent increase in refugees requiring homelessness support from local authorities after being evicted from Home Office asylum accommodation.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: We recognise the number of individuals moving on from the asylum support system is placing pressure on local authorities. The Home Office and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities are working closely on this and have been regularly engaging with local authorities to ensure they are supported. There are a number of improvements in train to ensure local authorities receive early notification of those leaving Home Office asylum accommodation to enable effective planning.

Visas: Graduates

Baroness Northover: To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to the respond to the letter from Professor Brian Bell of the Migration Advisory Committee requesting data for a rapid review of the Graduate Route.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: We provided the requested data to the Migration Advisory Committee by 26 March 2024.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Colombia: War Crimes

Lord Browne of Ladyton: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to support the Colombian Ministry of Equality and Equity, particularly pertaining to its work on reparations for victims of sexual and gender-based violence during conflict.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Colombia is a Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) and Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan focus country. Colombia is current chair of the UK-founded International Alliance on PSVI, a key forum for coordinating global action on conflict-related sexual violence. The UK contributed to the opening of a landmark case to address sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) from the armed conflict in the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP), the authoritative transitional justice body providing reparations to SGBV victims. We continue to support this work, as well as assistance to victims and survivors seeking access to justice.

Balkans: Security

Baroness Helic: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent reports indicating that Iran has exported Shahed drones and drone technology to Serbia; and of the impact of this on peace and stability in the Western Balkans.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We have seen no evidence that Iran has exported Shahed drones and drone technology to Serbia. We are counselling Serbia to approach its defence procurement with care, as it sensibly seeks to diversify and modernise its defence capabilities. When the Foreign Secretary met President Vucic in Munich in February, he underlined the importance of Serbia supporting efforts to build and support regional stability.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Artificial Intelligence: Competition

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government, following concerns raised by the Competition and Markets Authorityabout potential 'over-dependence' on a small number of major tech firms in the AI industry, what steps they are taking (1) to promote competition, and (2) to prevent monopolistic practices, within the AI sector.

Viscount Camrose: The Government is committed to ensuring that digital markets work well for businesses and consumers. It will be for the CMA in the first instance as the independent regulator to decide how to exercise its powers to address any competition issues in digital markets as they develop. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill will give the CMA new, faster and more effective tools to identify and address competition issues in digital markets, including AI markets. These will apply where it finds firms have substantial and entrenched market power and a position of strategic significance in one or more digital activities. Subject to Parliamentary timings, the Bill is on track to receive Royal Assent in Spring, and we expect the regime will come into force in Autumn this year.